Those unfamiliar with the Korean Indie band scene may only know Kim C as the dorky man on 1 Night 2 Days. However, Kim C is actually part of a very well known band called Hot Potato in the K-Indie world.  -www.allkpop.com

This March saw Hot Potato released their third album “Seesaw”. It is a collection of difference genes of music include hip-hop. In less than a month of its release, the song Confessions reached the number one spot on Cyworld’s rock chart. Other songs, like Seesaw and Modern Woman snatched the 7th and 14th place respectively. Hot Potato’s Kim C is very surprised at the attention that the song Confessions has received.
The band have a Mini Drama made for this album, its has a torching story line – beautifully fused together with the tracks from the album.

The Songs from Youtube:
1) Confessions –

2) The mini Drama that contain the songs and music from the album SEESAW.
Part 1/2

Part 2/2

Song from their older album:
1) Irony

2) Rain Tears

Naotarō Moriyama (森山直太朗) is a Japanese pop singer-songwriter born on April 23, 1976. His mother is Ryōko Moriyama, who is a well-known folk singer. He came out with the album “Kawaita Uta wa Sakana no Esa ni Chōdo Ii” in 2002, and distinguished himself by creating the song “Sakura”.

The song “Sakura” is one of the graduation song that have been broadly sung on Japanese Graduation Ceremonies since its released. The song is beautifully sing with well written, heart warming lyric. He have sing many other wonderful, emotional songs as well.

Some of his works:
1) Sakura (with translation)
2) Sakura (performed LIVE)
3) Rainbow
4) To my beloved (愛し君へ)

If you think making a music video is easy with today’s technology, think again. This interesting and quirky video of Diane Birch’s Valentino shows how much manual work is required to synchronize with the actual processed one, you can hear the giggles and wows from the crew behind and you know how tough it is to get it all right.

If you don’t know Diane Birch, do check out our initial featured article of this amazingly talented artist.

Now, I wonder how many times they rehearse?

Being unique is indeed important in the competition, or perhaps any competition. But time and time again, artists are always tested for their consistencies and nowadays we hardly hear anything that might be worth listening 10-20 years (e.g. Police, Queen, Eric Clapton, etc) or even 50 years (e.g. Elvis Presley) from now. Once the novelty wears off and listeners will still fall back to classics. Also nowadays artists take a stroll along money park, live happily ever with their MTV cribs episode and you never hear from them anymore, not many will stay and create good music for a long time. The music industry sure need some passion even though most artists aren’t trying too hard because somewhere down the road their music might just become a classic.

So who’s your favorite to be in the top 5? Here’s my pick:

• Crystal Bowersox
• Casey James
• Lee DeWyze
• Siobhan Magnus
• Michael Lynch

Don’t mind me being bias but I absolutely am a fan of Crystal Bowersox, her performances are incredibly consistent and a joy to look at and of course I hope she wins it… or maybe not. ;)

Here’s my favorite pieces of her performance of Come Together by the Beatles and Midnight Train to Georgia few weeks ago:

Natasha has a signature crystal clear voice with a unique style that can adapt to the genre of music she sings. Her perfect English and wide range of repertoire ranging from Jazz Standards, Be-bop, to Brazilian Music, have afforded Natasha the opportunity to be recommended by dozens of eminent musicians in Bangkok. Natasha’s voice is warm, soothing, and down-to-earth. Her vocal quality and musicality has enabled her to transcend esoteric jazz audiences and reach crossover mainstream appeal.  – mellowmotif.weebly.com

Eugene spent his college years assimilating the jazz genre, developing a deep passion for it over time. He played jazz piano for the Conrad Centennial Singapore (2005), The Centre Stage (2005), and various restaurants and functions around Singapore. He has performed twice with Latin Grammy Award winning jazz flautist Nestor Torres.
Eugene is also the musical director for a many musical productions – i.e. “The Little Prince” (Antoine de Saint Exupery)(2007), in which he composed and arranged all parts. The production was organized by the Singapore Soka Association and had its premiere in January 2008.  – mellowmotif.weebly.com

This talented group from Thailand is gem in the Bangkok’s jazz scene, their bossa nova version of Fool’s Garden’s original music “Lemon Tree” and “O Pato (The Duck)”, a Brazilian tune sung in Portuguese are a big hits in the local region.
The music video of the song “Lemon Tree” have considerable airtime in MTV Thailand, MTV Hong Kong and etc.

The Songs:
1) Lemon Tree
2) O Pato
3) L.O.V.E
4) Mellow Motif “live” in MTV Thailand

Joanna Wang (Chinese: 王若琳, pinyin: Wáng Ruòlín) is a Taiwanese singer-songwriter, daughter of famous music producer Ji-ping “Bing” Wang (王治平). Born in Taipei but raised in Los Angeles, Wang dropped out from Gabrielino High School when she was 16. Her debut album, Start From Here, was released in January 2008 as a double-disc set, one in English and the other in Chinese. The album reached #1 in Taiwan and has been popular throughout the Southeast Asian region. In June 2008, it was released in Japan. Her second album, Joanna&王若琳, which includes her all-original endeavor, The Adult Storybook, was released in January 2009.  -  Wikipedia

I feel in love with her voice, when my friends give me her album, Joanna&王若琳 – The Adult Storybook. In this album, song like “Vincent”, “Aubrey” , “just the two of us” and her version of “Cant Take My Eyes Off You”, are just nice for a peaceful, relaxing Sunday.

Some of her song :
1) Vincent
2) Aubrey
3) Cant take my eye of you
4) Just the two of us
5) His remedy

Big Mama is a South Korean female singing group, known for their powerful voices rather than appearances, they attracted a lot of attention (and album sales) because of their vocal talent and of their refusal to conform to the typical Korean female body type.        – Wikipedia

Big Mama is make up of  a 4 average-looking  female. They are very different for today forefront female group. Using their  vocal talents rather than their looks, these ladies took the Korean music scene by storm in 2003, their single ” Break Away” slingshot the group to the top of the music charts, with their album selling over 100,000 copies.
Signed to YG Entertainment, the company wanted start a new wave of singers with great voices without flashy dance moves and brilliant appearance. One special rules is that, the group are not allow to undergo plastic surgery or they will be disbanded.
After leaving YG Entertainment after their contract ended in 2007, Big Mama joined Manwoldang.
They, from my point of view, are one of the most underrated group around in South Korea. Listen to some of their song below

Some of their songs:

1) Break Away (live)
2) Betrayal (live)
3) You raise me up (Cover, sound quality is not so good but it one of the best version i have heard so far)
4) Only one Day
5) Resignation

The New Zealand rock band have released two albums – 2004’s platinum selling ‘You Are Here’ and 2007’s multi-platinum selling ‘Second Hand Planet’.
Opshop were winners of the coveted ‘Peoples Choice Award’ at the 2007 New Zealand Music Awards. Also in 2007 their single “Maybe” achieved the honour of being the biggest song at New Zealand radio ever, holding the #1 most-played spot for 12 consecutive weeks.
Opshop describe their sound like this: “An equal opportunistic grab bag of semi-funkster pop and crackle ‘muesli’ rock. We like playing music that sounds nice and loud. And dirty and quiet and every nook ‘n’ cranny in between. If you’re not sure what it is. Its likely to be ours”.  -  Last.fm

With the single “Maybe”, they are the first New Zealand band to go to the #1 position on iTunes New Zealand in its history.   -  Wikipedia

A New Zealand rock band with song like ” One day “, “Maybe”, ” Nothing can wait ” and ” Big Energy in Little Spaces  “, will make one turn head. I personally like their ballad track ” One day”.

They will be performing at Timbre Rock & Roots in Singapore.

Their list of music:
1) Maybe
2) One day
3) Nothing Can Wait

The Fray is an American four-piece piano-rock band from Denver, Colorado.Formed in 2002 by schoolmates Isaac Slade and Joe King, the band achieved mainstream success with the release of their debut album, How to Save a Life in 2005, which was certified double platinum by the RIAA, and was also certified platinum in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and in the UK. The Fray achieved national success with their first single, “Over My Head (Cable Car)”, which became a top ten hit in the United States. The release of their second single, “How to Save a Life”, brought the band worldwide fame. The song charted in the top three of the Billboard Hot 100 and was a top 5 single in Australia, Canada, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

The band released their sophomore self-titled album in 2009. The album debuted at number-one on the Billboard charts^[2] and was certified gold in the United States, Australia and Canada. It was also nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album in 2010. While both the albums were commercially successful, critical reception was mixed. The Fray was ranked #84 on Billboard’s “Artists of the Decade” list.

The Fray’s use of the piano as the lead instrument in their music has led critics to compare them with British piano-driven bands like Coldplay and Keane. However, The Fray list their influences as Counting Crows, Better Than Ezra, Radiohead and U2. – Wikipedia

I got to know ”The Fray” from David Letterman’s show and the popular song they were performing “You found me”. It had a catchy tune to it and i look up this band and not before long I was checking out their first album “How to Save a Life”. The song album feature alot of their musical style, so much so it does cross the line into boredom thus limiting their replayability.

Their 2nd self -titled album “The Fray”  include hits like “You found me”, “Never say Never”. This album is interesting more creative and unique with songs like ” Ungodly hour” and ” We Build then we break”, feels like the band is experimenting music in new direction. Overall, i do like to get more from this band.

The Fray are coming to Timbre Rock and Roots. Do catch them there.

Here are a few recommended songs:

1. You Found Me 
2. Never Say Never
3. How to Save a Life

Previously called the Bluesbug, Gugun & Blues Shelter is an Indonesian blues power trio that is a breath of fresh air in the seemingly dying Asian blues scene these days. Influenced by the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Bettie Davies, and Led Zeppelin among others, the band forced many music fans to take notice of its powerful, flawless genre-crossing blend of blues that incorporate influences from rock, funk, and soul.

Led by guitarist/vocalist Gugun, Gugun & Blues Shelter has released two albums under the Bluesbug moniker “ Get The Bug” (2004) and “Turn it On” (2007) that has been gaining praises from music critics and fans alike. ”Turn It On” was voted as one of the best Indonesian album in 2007 by Rolling Stone Indonesia Magazine and Gugun was noted as one of the most promising local guitar player by the same magazine. In the same year, Indonesia’s Trax Magazine also voted Gugun as the best guitar player in South East Asia. The band also received attention from European fans, thanks to years of playing for expatriate fans during their pub-playing days. As the result, Gugun & Blues Shelter participated in Belfast Big River Blues and Jazz Festival 2008 and played several dates in a four-weeks UK tour at cities like Burnley, Scarborough, and Crewe. Due to the good reception, the tour was extended to other cities like Leeds, Oxford, York, Rotherham, and culminated in another festival – the Colne Great British R n’ B Festival at the Manchester outskirt. In Asia, recently Gugun & Blues Shelter played several dates in Malaysia in 2008, participated in Singapore Arts Festival at the same year, as well as in Indonesia’s major festivals such as Java Jazz Festival and JakJazz Festival. Recently, Gugun & Blues Shelter embarked another European invasion by participated in Skegness Rock and Blues Festival and finished recording another new album, titled “Set My Soul On Fire”.  – www.rockandroots.com.sg

What can i say. Awesome band and having one of the best guitarist in South East Asia. They will be rocking in Timbre Rock and Roots 2010. Listen to their music and one will know why they are a reason to go to Timbre Rock & Roots.

Some of their performance listed below:
1) Plastic People
2) Little Wing
3) Turn it on